Circular rib-knitting machine.



No. 68l,|6|. Patented Aug. 20, MN. L. N. D. WILLIAMS G. HQ SWINGLEHUBST. CIRCULAR BIB KNITTING MACHINE.

(Applicatiun fllad Feb. 8, 1901.)

(No Model.)

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Patented Aug. 20, 190i. L. N. D. WILLIAMS & H.SWINGLEHUBST. CIRCULAR BIB KNITTING MACHINE.

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f I. L UNITED STATES "PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS N. D. WILLIAMS, OF ASHBOURNE, AND HARRY SWINGLEIIURST, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS TO ROBERT W. SCOTT, OF PHILADELPHIA-AND LOUIS N. D. WILLIAMS, OF ASHBOURNE, PENNSYL- VANIA.

CIRCULAR RIB-KNITTING MACHINE.

srscIrIcATIoN forming part of Letters Patent No. 681,1 61, dated August 20, 190:1.

Application filed February 8, 1901. Serial No.'46,555- (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that we, LoUIs N.D. WILLIAMS, a resident of Ashbourne, Montgomery county, and HARRY SWINGLEHURs'r, a resident of- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, citizens of the United States,have invented certain Improvements in Circular Rib-Knitting Machines, of which the following is a specification. Our invention relates to devices for auto- I0, matically controlling the movable cams of the dial-cam cap and needlecam cylinder of a rib-knitting machine, the invention com prising certain improvements of the device shown in J osephHeginbothoms patent, No.

i 5 286,003, dated October 2, 1883, the objects of the present improvements being to insure the firm mounting of the various levers constituting parts of the cam-moving mchanism, to provide for the ready application of said levers to and their removal from the machine,

to permit ready adjustment of the connections between the levers or between the levers and cams, to prevent access of dust and dirt to the connections, to reduce to a mimimum the number of parts employed, and generally to increase the durability and efficiency of the cam-operating mechanism. These objects we attain in the manner hereinafter set forth, reference being had to the accompany- 3'0 ing drawings, in which-:-

Figure 1 is a sectional plan or top View of sufficient of a rib-knitting machine to illustrate ourinvention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are sectional views of parts of the mechanism; and Figs.

6, 7, 8, and 9 areviews illustrating otherconstructions which may be adopted for the purpose of obtaining certain results aimed at by our invention.

The Heginbothorn patent, No. 286,003, be fore referred to, shpws and describes a camchanging device for the dial-cam cap of a ribknitting machine, said device comprising two levers, one attached directly to the stem of the swinging cam and both connected so that movement imparted in the same direction to the outer or free ends of the levers, first to one. and then to the other, results in the swinging of the cam first in one direction and then in the reverse direction. The patented device was objectionable, however, owing to the fact that no provision was made for ad justiug, altering, or limiting the movement of the cam, and also because the arrangement of the levers employed necessitated the use of a lug extending beyond the periphery of the dial-cam cap, thus making this member of the machine awkward in appearance and expensive to manufacture. The pivots about which the levers swung were, moreover, screw-bolts or pins, which were expensive and liable to work loose when the device was in action, and the fact that the levers were carried by the dial-cam cap was also open to serious objection, for the reason that as said cap is suspended by a comparatively small spindle it was liable to be sprung out of its proper position by the pressure to which it was subjected by the lever-operating mechanism. It will be understood that the devices for operating the cams of the dial-cam cap should be attached to a rotatable memberof the machine, and experience has demonstrated that the ring which carries the cams for operating the cylinder-needles is the preferable carriage for these devices, since this cylinder-cam ring is firmly seated on or in the bed-plate and is therefore capable of withstanding any ordinary thrust to which it is likely to be subjected by the cam-operating devices.

Prior to our invention devices carried by the cylinder-cam ring and connected to the cams of the dial-cam cap have been devised; but such devices have been more or less 0bjectionable either because of inefficiency of the operating mechanism or expense of construction due to multiplicity of parts and the difficulty of assembling the same or taking them apart.

Our invention has therefore been devised with the view of overcoming the various objections to these prior devices, and the manner in which we accomplish this result will be understood on reference to the drawings, in which--- 1 represents the fixed bed-plate of the machine; 2, the rotating cylinder-cam ring; 3,

-machines of this class.

the needle-cylinder; at, the horizontal needledial, and 5. the dial-cam cap, which is pro? vided with swinging cams (shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1) and mounted upon a pivotpin 6.

' In the drawings are shown two sets of lever mechanism, one set for operating these swinging cams of the dial-cam cap and the other set for operating the vertically-movable stitch-cam of the cylinder-cam ring.

We will first describe the mechanism for operating the swinging cams of the dial-cam cap. There are two levers 7 and 8, which may for convenience be termed, respectively, the primary and secondary levers, the lever 7 being a lever of the first order and havinga projecting post 9, which isconnected in the mannerdescribed hereinafter to a link 10, the latter being also connected to a pin 11, which projects through a slot 12T i 11 the dialcam cap 5 and is secured to the swinging cam The lever 8' is a lever of structure thereof; the second order, having its fulcrum between its ends, the inner end of the lever extending beneath the lever 7 and being connected thereto in the man ner described hereinafter- The free ends of both of the levers 7 and 8 project beyond thecarn-ring 2, so that assaidf ring rotates the levers may be acted upon bya disk 13 at the upper end of a, rod 14, to which vertical movement can beimparted by suitable pattern-chain mechanism, as in other As the. projecting ends. of the lovers 7' and 8 are in diiferent horizontal planes, they can be operated independently and successively by propervertical adjustment of the disk 13. Thus, supposing the cam-ring 2. tobe rotating in the direction ofthe arrow, Fig. 1, and the disk 13 to beelevated so as to strike the projecting end of'the lever 7, the latter will be moved rearwardly and the swinging cam of the. dial cam capwill be moved inwardly, and at the same timethe outer end of the lever 8' will be swring outwardly, so as to be in the path of the disk 1*3when, the same has been lowfor instance, to what is known as the tuck position or to a welt position-b v so adj usting the disk 13 that it will contact with the recessed portion of the lever or with the full projecting portion of the same. The levers 7 and-Sare'connect-ed for joint action, and owing tothe different arcs in which the. connected portions of the levers necessarily swing acertain play in this connection becomes necessary. Thus in Fig. 5 a pin 15 projects downwardly from the lever 7 and passes through an eccentric 16, mounted so as to rotate in an opening in the lever 8, while in the construction shown in Fig. 6 the pin on the lever 7 engages with a block 17, free to slide in a longitudinal slot in the inner arm of the lever 8. In both cases, however, the pin is. on the upper lever and the slot or enlarged opening in the lower lever, so that the projecting upper lever protects the c0nnection from dirt or dust, the accumulation of which might otherwise interfere with the proper operation of the levers. This construction also facilitates the fitting together of the parts, as no means for retaining the eccentric 16 or block 17 in position vertically are required, the lower portion of the block resting on the top of the cam-ring 2 and the upper portion being confined vertically by the. overhanging portion of the lever 7.

Each of they levers 7 and 8 has 21. depending pivot-stud 18, fitted to. a vertical opening in the. cam-ring 2, as shown in Fig. 3, and upon each of these pivot-studs bears a. pad 20, of leather, rawhide, or other frictional material, carried by one of the arms of a bar 21, which is contained within a slot, 22 in the cam-ring 2 and is secured to said ring: by means of a confining-screw 23, as shown. in Fig. 2., the friction padsexercising such control over the fulcrum-studs as to retain the levers, in the positions to which they have been adj usted by contact with the disk 13 and preventexcessive movement of either lever due to mo= mentum. The pivot-stud of the lever, 7 is :recessed, as shown at 19 in 3, so asto form shoulders for engagement with the friction-pad 20, whereby the latter performs the additional f unction, of preventing vertical i dis lacement of the. said. lever 7. The connecting-rod.10, whereby movement I is transmittedfrom the lever 7 to the swinging dial-cam, has at theouter end. a. slot 24,. whichreceives the reduced upper end of the post 9, andI on the under si'deof said connect ;ing-rod 10' is av block 25, which has anopening for the reception of said reduced upper j end of the post, this block. 25 being secured to the block 10 by means of'a screw26,a.dapted j to the slot 24, as shown. in, Fig. 4, so that the block 25 can be adjusted longitudinally on the con necting-rod,,and the distance between. 1 the opening in the rod which receives the pin- 11 of thedial-cam structure andlthe opening in the block 25, which receives the reduced upper end of the post 9, can thusbe increased. or diminished to accord with the desired adjustment of the swinging dial-camr Various other means of accomplishing thisresult may be adoptedwithin thescope of our invention. For instance,in Fig. 7 wehave shown a. construction in which the inner end of the con- ;necting-rod is split and expanded,,so. as to jfiorm astrapfor embracing an eccentric 27, ,forming the head of the pinll, the split and expanded. end of' the connecting-rod being clamped upon this eccentric by means of a clamp-screw 28 when the desired adjustment has been effected.

In the construction shown in Fig. 8 the con necting-rod is made in two parts 10 one provided with a right-hand thread and the other with a left-hand thread adapted to the correspondingly-threaded ends of a split nut 29,

which can be tightened after adjustment by means of a clamp-screw 30.

The mechanism shown in Figs. 1 and 2 has been designed with especial reference to the ready fitting together or taking apart of the elements composing the same. Thus all that is necessary in order to separate the parts is to first lift oif the connecting rod 10, then remove the bar 21, and then lift out the levers 7and 8, application of the parts being effected by a reversal of these operations. The levers 31 and 32 for efiecting adjustment of the stitch-cam of the cam l-ing 2 are substantially similar to the levers 7 and 8, with the exceping with an elongated slot in the portion of ;the lever 32 which said lever 31 overlaps/ The inner end of the lever 31 carries a setscrew 34, the lower end of which acts upon a beveled block 35 at the upper end of the ver tically-guided stem 36, to which the stitchcam of the ring 2 is attached, a coiled spring 37, inserted beneath the projecting portion of the beveled block or head 35, serving to lift the latter, so as to maintain it constantly i ;in contact with the lower end of the set-screw 34. Each of the levers 31 and 32 has a depending pivot-stud 38, adapted to an opening :in the cam-ring 2, vertical displacement of the lowerlever 32 being prevented by the overlapping portion of the lever 31 and the vertical retention of the latter being efiected by bearings 1n the cam-ring.

means of a confining-screw 39, which passes 1 1 s9 lever 31 and is adapted at its lower end to a threaded opening in the cam-ring 2, as shown through the hollow fulcrum-stud 38 of said by dotted lines in Fig. 2. Upon withdrawing this screw 39, therefore,the levers 31 and 32 can be withdrawn successively from their Having thus described our invention, we

claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent-- 1. In a cam-changing device for knittingmachines, lever mechanism comprising primary and secondary members pivotally f mounted upon the cylinder-cam ring by means of depending studs adapted to openings in said cam-ring, substantially as specified.

2. In a cam-changing device for knittingmachines, lever mechanism comprising primary and secondary members having depend ing pivot studs or shafts one of said members overlapping the other so as to retain it vertically in place, substantially as specified.

3. In a cam-changing device for knittingmachines, lever mechanism comprising primary and secondary members having depending pivot studs or shafts, one of which is shouldered, and a retainer engaging with said shouldered stud or shaft to prevent vertical displacement thereof, substantially as specified.

4. In a cam-changing device for knittingmachines, lever mechanism comprising primary and secondary members having depending pivot studs or shafts, and friction-brake devices acting upon said pivot studs or shafts, substantially as specified.

5. In a cam-changing device for knittingmachines, lever mechanism comprising primary andsecondary members having depend ing pivot studs or shafts one of which is shouldered and friction-brake devices bear ing upon said studs or shafts, that which en-' gages with the shouldered shaft also preventing vertical displacement thereof, substan tially as specified.

6. In a cam-changing device for knitting" machines, the combination of the cam, lever .mechanism comprising primary and secondary members, and a connection between one of said members and the cam, said connection being adjustable so as to vary the relation of lever member and cam, substantially as specified. I

7. In a cam-changing device for knitting machines, the combination of the cam, lever mechanism for operating the same, a con necting rod or link having at one end a longi tudinal slot, and at the other end a vertical pin connection with the cam, a plate or block having a clamp-screw adapted to the slot in the link, and a vertical pin connection with the lever independent of said clamp-screw.

8. In a cam-changing device for knittingmachines, lever mechanism comprising primary and secondary members, and a pivotal connection between said members comprising a pin on one member and an eccentric on the other member whereby the pivotal connection can be shifted, substantially as speci fied.

9. In a cam-changing device for knittingmachines, lever mechanism comprising primary and secondary members one arranged above the other, a pin or pivot in the top member, and an opening for the reception of the same in the lower member whereby said pivotal connection is covered and protected by said upper member, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LOUIS N. D. WILLIAMS. HARRY SWINGLEI-IURST. Witnesses:

F. E. BEOHTOLD, J os. H. KLEIN. 

